


...It's A Very Good Place To Start

by Basnatural



Series: Secrets and Lies [1]
Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, M/M, Secrets, Touring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13472709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basnatural/pseuds/Basnatural
Summary: Well let's start at the very beginning as they say...a little bit of a one shot back story set prior to Secrets and Lies. What actually happened between Kyle and Dan and how did this all end up being such a big secret anyway?





	...It's A Very Good Place To Start

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. So this was a bit of a surprise to commemorate Cry Me a River getting 1000 hits and 50 Kudos at the same time...
> 
> So please enjoy a little bit of back story for the series. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.
> 
> <33

They arrived in Temple Bar in a taxi and they literally fell into the first pub they found. They meander through the crowd to get to the bar and signal the barman down to order drinks. They had been in Ireland for their first of two gigs, and Dan Smith and his best friend, Kyle Simmons, were out on the town to relax.  

 

“Hey mate, can I get Guinness for me and…” Kyle looks over at Dan for his drinks order. The singer wasn’t listening, more interested in the atmosphere and groups surrounding him. Kyle elbows him to get his attention and gives him an annoyed glare when Dan looks at him.

 

“Oh! Morgan’s and Lemonade,” the dark haired man asks the guy and gives him a small smile of thanks.

 

“Mate, really?” Kyle asks him. “We’re in Ireland and you’re ordering Morgan’s?”

 

“What?” Dan says and Kyle scoffs at him and shakes his head.

 

“Never gonna get you laid like this,” Kyle tells him and hands over a ten euro note to the man in return for his drinks. Dan takes a long drink of his spirit and looks back at him.

 

“I didn’t think that was the objective tonight?” Dan teases.

 

“Hey you’ve had a longer dry spell than me,” Kyle retorts and starts on his pint. “So, my main man Dan, who do you fancy around here?”

 

“Kyle, leave me alone,” Dan tells him and takes another drink, downing the glass quickly.

 

“Nope! I’m on a mission now,” Kyle tells him and starts to look around the room at the possibilities available.

 

“You’re gonna need to get me drunker than this if you want your plan to succeed,” Dan eventually tells him.

 

“Challenge accepted!” his friend cheerfully declares and orders him another, but making this one a double.

 

By the time they had made it through two more bars and were walking rather unsteadily along the river to a club they had heard was good nearby, they had both had a significant amount of alcohol between them.

 

“So what was wrong with that last girl?” Kyle asks Dan, clearly not understanding why his friend hadn’t done anything with her.

 

“Nothing! Just wasn’t my type,” Dan tells him, slightly slurring his words as he talked. He was finally enjoying himself, but the way Kyle had been constantly throwing him towards women all night had slowly been annoying him to the point he wanted to crack and tell him exactly why he wasn’t going after any of them.

 

“She was young, pretty and clearly easy,” Kyle tells him with wide eyes. “What about that isn’t your type?” Dan rolls his eyes at him and walks a bit faster, wrapping his arms around him, the winter chill hitting him a bit more.

 

Kyle walks a bit quicker to keep up with him and shoves his own hands in his pockets as he catches him.

 

“Fine! Alright, so that’s not your type,” he says to him as they get to the entrance of the club, pounding bass coming out of it. The bouncer eyes them quickly trying to decide whether they were the type the club wanted. Evidently they were as he steps to the side and lets the men inside.

 

Kyle orders for them again at the bar as his head bops to the dance music and waits for Dan to negotiate his way through the throng of dancers. He hands the now familiar drink over to him and takes a sip of his own vodka.

 

“Well at least get off with someone in here?” Kyle shouts at him, moving his mouth to Dan’s ear to get himself heard. Dan hoped that he couldn’t see the way the breath was affecting him. Dan groans and just looks at Kyle with anger finally boiling in his eyes.

 

“Why the hell do you care so much, Kyle?” He shouts back at him, and downs the drink quicker than he should and moves onto the dancefloor as a new song starts. It’s clearly a popular choice with the regular crowd. Dan can tell it is the Script, and supposed that as local boys they would be popular with the drunker of the clientele.

 

He feels a hand on his arm, and pulling him backwards. He turns around to see Kyle looking at him with a confused expression. Deciding that words were clearly not going to stop the man from what he was doing, Dan eventually cracks and shoves as hard as he could against Kyle’s chest. Kyle’s arms get thrown out to the side, but he doesn’t stop the movement as Dan walks him towards a dark corner of the club and pushes him forcefully against the wall.

 

Dan watches Kyle’s eyes get wider in the dancing lights, and before he can lose his nerve he moves his leg between the younger man’s and presses his own lean body against the other. He tilts his head slightly and insistently pushes his lips against Kyle’s. It is only a short kiss, just the pressing of lips before Dan pulls away and looks inquisitively into the other man’s face. He sees no signs that Kyle was disgusted or wanted him to stop, so he pushes back towards him and their lips meet for the second time.

 

Kyle quickly got with the programme and Dan feels hands move up and caress his neck as the kiss got more and more heated. He brings his own hands to Kyle’s hips and starts rubbing at his hipbones causing a groan to come from his best friend. Eventually the kiss ends as both men need to take a breath. They don’t move too far apart and they continue to stare at each other.

 

“I told you,” Dan says to him, “they weren’t my type.” And he tries to convey all the feelings he had held for years through his eyes into Kyle’s.

 

“Thank fuck for that,” Kyle exclaims and surges forward to kiss him again.

 

\---

“Kyle, what are you staring at?”

 

The six foot four tall, slim man looks over at his friend, as if he had suddenly realised he wasn’t alone with his thoughts. He swipes an oversized hand through his beard and moustache and he blinks rapidly to stop himself from staring at the dark haired beauty, his back only a few seats away from him.

 

“Nothin’. I’m looking at nothin’,” he says, unconvincingly and Woody glares at him with raised eyebrows. He wasn’t buying any of it and knew he was being lied to.

 

The band were on their way to a festival in a coastal town in America, courtesy of Amtrak. The crowded American train was not what Kyle was used to – large and wide, with a lot of seats and very crowded – but somehow Dave, their manager had managed to pull a few strings and their entire entourage had managed to get their own carriage. Kyle was currently sitting at the back of it, surveying Dan’s interaction with the rest of the group, until the long haired drummer had come to find out what he was up to.

 

It had been nine long days since Dan had kissed him in a dark Dublin club after Kyle had tried to set him up with anything young, willing and eager. They had been dancing around the unresolved sexual tension for years, but the time had never been right for either of them. Misunderstandings, and other relationships had always interfered with the two men finally admitting their feelings, but when the singer had crashed their lips together, it was like a moment of clarity had finally hit Kyle, full force and finally answering all of his prayers.

 

But in those nine long days – Kyle hadn’t been counting, honest – Dan had barely looked his way once. Kyle had tried to talk to him about what had happened and what might come next, but the shorter man had brushed him off every time, saying he was busy or that something else had come up.

 

He sighs again and moves his eyes to look out of the window at the passing landscapes. He doesn’t see Woody stare at him for a few seconds and then flick his eyes to his other friend before rolling his eyes to the heavens.

 

“Oh this is gonna be fun,” he mutters sarcastically to himself and heads back to the laughter coming from the rest of the carriage.

 

\---

Finally arriving at the festival ground, the entire group disembark from the mini bus that had transported them from the station to the large field and beach that awaited them. Kyle looks around him and takes in the familiar sights around him – large crowds of people shouting and signalling to each other, performing the familiar juggle of equipment and instruments; big articulated lorries filled with stage settings and roadies trying to get everything out in one go, trying to show how helpful and useful they can be so they can continue to work and fans congregating and the metal barriers, hoping to recognise their favourite performers unloading from cars and buses.

 

The sun is streaming overhead and Kyle can smell the tangy saltiness from the ocean nearby. Kyle pulls his sunglasses over his eyes and sheds his light shirt so he is just wearing a vest and three quarter length cut-off jeans. He leans against a nearby pillar as he waits to find out exactly what he was meant to be doing next. He watches the rest of his crew come off the vehicle and finally Dan emerges chatting away animatedly to one of the girls Dave had hired to help out. He can’t help the flare of burning in his chest when he sees the all too familiar grin and laugh from the singer that is always present when he talks about things that interest him, and he starts to move forward to grab his shoulder and talk to him.

 

Suddenly, Dan catches his movements, as if he had been tuned into his wavelength and was waiting for it, and he looks over and gives him a curt shake of the head and continues to walk off.

 

“Screw this shit,” Kyle grunts and stabs the toe of his Nike’s into the dirt of the ground in frustration. He needed to talk to Dan about everything, and whether he liked it or not, it was going to be done today.

 

“Kyle!” comes a familiar voice from behind him, and he turns to see a large overweight man walk towards him, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his shoulders and large sweat patches rapidly expanding under his armpits. “Come on, hop to it! You have a camera crew and interviewer waiting for you,” Dave sneers at him. Kyle rolls his eyes in reply, and Dave grabs him by the arm and looks at him sternly.

 

“Oi, you look here you little shit, can you at least manage a day or two where you actually do what you get paid to do? Shut up, play your little music and make Dan look good, okay?”

 

Kyle glares at him. He knew that Dave hated him in particular. Dan was his favourite and was his winning cash cow. And for some reason he hated the brotherly bond him and Dan had had up until now. He had never said anything directly to Kyle, but his overall demeanour and aggression to him in private gave the clear impression that if he could get another keyboard player in the band, Kyle would be long gone.

 

“Kyle!” Will calls from ahead of him and Kyle looks away from the fat manager and up towards his friend. “You alright?”

 

“Yeah, man,” Kyle says and manages to side step the man and run after the bass player. “Interview I hear?” he asks and Will just nods.

 

“He say anything to you?” Will asks him, knowing that Dave and Kyle had a bit of a tumultuous relationship. Kyle feigns confusion and looks back at him.

 

“Nuh. He wanted fashion tips. I told him I had nothing that would fit him,” he says absentmindedly. “Where’s Dan?”

 

“Oh, he’s already there with Woody,” Will tells him and they round a corner to seating area that had been set up for the interviewers to do quick interviews with all of the bands performing.

 

There is a large sky blue sofa with an even larger green ficus on one side and a bright yellow and blue backdrop with the name of the sponsors all over it. He sees the man he has been looking for sitting in the corner closest to the interviewer as normal and Woody is standing, pacing with his hands in his pockets and waiting for the two other men to arrive. As soon as Kyle appears, the singer’s eyes flick up automatically and he smiles widely at both him and Will.

 

“Here they are! Fucking late as always,” he jokes with the blond holding the microphone.

 

Kyle can’t believe that the smile has been directed at him and he stumbles and stutters as Will claps him on the shoulder and pushes him forward towards the seat.

 

They arrange themselves quickly, and much to Kyle’s surprise he ends up sitting extremely close to the singer. The interview goes off without a hitch, with Dan being his normal self-deprecating self and trying to off load as many questions as possible onto everyone else.

 

Kyle can see the panic and anxiety that constantly runs through the other man’s brain when he is the centre of attention for anything other than singing, and all he wants to do is hold him close and soothe away his worries, but he daren’t touch him after the cold shoulder he has endured.

 

“So have you got anything else exciting lined up then?” the woman – Rachel? Rebecca? Kyle really hadn’t been listening – asks Dan as one of the last questions of the slot, and Dan takes a breath in, knowing he would have to be the one to answer.

 

“Um, yeah, well when we get home in a few months we’re doing a small concert at my sister’s school to help raise money for bullying so that should be cool,” he says, all the while looking at some point on the grass to stop from looking directly at the woman in front of him.

 

“Wow, that’s awesome! Is it a cause that you’re familiar with?” she asks him, genuinely interested, but Kyle can easily see that Dan doesn’t want to discuss it any more.

 

“Yeah, well it’s a huge thing in the UK, and Dan’s sis is cool so we wanted to help out, right guys?” Kyle buts in immediately saving the singer who looks over at him, clearly surprised but thankful.

 

Woody, Will and Kyle all manage to finish off the interview without needing Dan to say much else and the whole thing goes off without a hitch. The woman thanks them politely before disappearing off to have a look at the film before having to start on her next group. They all start to stand up to leave, but before Dan can slip away again, Kyle grabs his elbow and pulls him backwards to look at him.

 

“Dan, mate can we talk?” Kyle asks, and Dan looks down at where his arm connects with the long fingers of his best friend and then back up at his face.

 

“Kyle, there’s nothing to talk about,” he tells him placidly and tries to walk away. Kyle’s grip gets tighter, not letting go.

 

“Dude, seriously,” Kyle stares into the azure blue of the singer’s eyes trying to convey all of his feelings in one look.

 

“Seriously Kyle! Leave me alone! Fuck you’re obsessed with me!” Dan suddenly shouts, causing everyone in the vicinity including the film crew to turn around and look at them.

 

Kyle drops his arm as if he had been burned and can feel that his hurt is showing all over his face. Dan looks at him, and Kyle can swear he sees a slight flicker of regret fly over his features, before a steely gaze is back and Dan storms off towards where he knows their tour bus is waiting to take them away after their performance.

 

\---

Their set is tense to say the least. The drumming at the end of Of The Night ended with Kyle not even looking at Dan or the crowd and he staked off back to his synths without a backward glance and just took a sip of his drink before they moved onto the next song – which was thankfully Pompeii and signalling the end of the gig.

 

Marching off the stage at the end to cheers and high pitched screams, Will and Woody try to speak to both of the men and they both get a stony silence in response.

 

Dave watches it all with interest, and then Kyle watches as he pulls Dan aside and whispers something to him. He is too intrigued to know what had been said, but he can’t hear anything at all over the screaming of the crowd and the hustle and bustle of the backstage area. All he sees is Dan giving him a wary side eye glance and he walks off to the green room.

 

The next time they are all together is on the tour bus. They had all decided they needed to turn in early and get a move onto their next venue, so they all climb aboard and choose their beds quickly before each taking their turns to wash up and crawl into the small cabins that will be their home for the next couple of weeks.

 

The lights all switch off, no one says goodnight, but soon there is a soft snoring and deep breathing of the men as they each fall asleep one by one.

 

Kyle can’t sleep. He lies in his bunk staring at the slats above him. He hears the squeak and creak as Will moves around to change position but his breathing never changes, proving to Kyle that he was fast asleep above him.

 

Not even two meters away from him was the man he just wanted to hold and caress and tell everything would be alright, but the distance between them currently felt like it was the Pacific Ocean instead of just a bus walkway. He sighs heavily again, and then stills as he hears and almost identical noise come from the bunk he was thinking of.

 

He gentle draws back the curtain that was meant to give them some semblance of privacy and looks across at the other identical bed. He sees a familiar eye looking back at him through the end crack in his own curtain. Kyle gives Dan a small shy smile and is immediately rewarded with a similar one in return.

 

Dan pulls his own curtain back and that is all Kyle needs for him to jump out of the bunk and launch himself stealthily into the singer’s bed.

 

The space was small enough for Dan’s six foot one frame, but with the extra height of Kyle it seemed like a match box, but when Dan closes the privacy screen, it is like they are in their own private heaven, both of the men able to see, smell and even touch where their bodies met in the tight space.

 

“Hi,” is all Kyle says, his face not even inches away from the singer’s as he lies down to face him. He can feel the stilted breath of his friend drift over his face and he revels in the feeling of breathing the same air as him.

 

“I’m so sorry, Kyle,” is all Dan says and buries his head in to the taller man’s neck, and Kyle’s breath hitches at the intimate contact after so long.

 

“What happened?” is all he asks in return, not wanting to blame Dan or scare him off in any way.

 

“Dave found out,” he says, and Kyle just furrows his forehead, confused. “Don’t ask how, I have no clue. But he said that if it got out we would lose all our fans and the band would be over. I can’t do that to you guys, I really can’t!” Dan is pleading with him now and Kyle can feel the anger bubble up inside of him as he realises how much Dan had been hiding from him. He was a better actor than he gave himself credit for.

 

“So what happened to change your mind?”

 

“He wanted me to go and be photographed with some girl in the crowd today, some blonde girl he knows or something.” Dan explains. “I didn’t want to do it,” he says and looks intently at Kyle. “I wanted to be seen with you! I want to touch you…”

 

Dan doesn’t get to finish his thoughts before Kyle has attached himself to the singer’s lips, his tongue licking at the seam and pleading for entrance. He feels Dan’s small smile before he grants access and Kyle groans as he pushes his tongue inside and the two of them spend what feels like eternity learning each other’s taste and kissing style, happily enjoying the privacy and comfort of their own little bubble, before pulling off with a pop and gasping for air.

 

“Baby, you have me,” is all Kyle says to him. “Hey, secrets are meant to be fun yeah?”

 

And Dan smiles back cheekily before surging forward again and grabbing Kyle’s mouth with his own.

 


End file.
